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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23780029">Selectively Mute Sonic oneshots</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverPeahen/pseuds/SilverPeahen'>SilverPeahen</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comic), Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suggestions are appreciated, oneshots, selective mutisum, selectively mute sonic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:00:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,806</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23780029</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverPeahen/pseuds/SilverPeahen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Since I loved the idea of selectively mute Sonic, I decided to write a series of vagely connected oneshots around the idea of Sonic suffering from selective mutisum. </p>
<p>More tags will be added as they become relevant.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Selectively Mute Sonic oneshots</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first time anyone noticed something might be a bit different about Sonic, aside from his incredible speed, was the day Uncle Chuck attempted to introduce his nephew to other kids in the village for the first time. After a rough few weeks of re-working his life to fit the newly orphaned hoglet, and deal with the sudden grief of losing his sister so tragically before her time, Chuck was anxious to give his new charge a normal-ish upbringing. And, according to the one parenting book he owned and had stress-read over fifty times in the last week, socializing was key.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>However, given his tendency to live a semi-isolated life-style in his workshop, Chuck the Hedgehog rarely met up with his fellow mobians. This, plus the myriad of questions from neighbours wondering where the local hermit got a four year old child from, had the unfortunate side effect of causing Chuck to procrastinate actually taking Sonic into town. Fortunately, one can only stand to be locked in a house with a hyperactive, talkative, super-speedy hoglet for so long before they snap and need to find an outlet in the local playground. Even if that means braving the local's gossip.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Located in the centre of the quaint village of Green Hill Zone was a park, maintained by the locals with handcrafted climbing frames and trimmed grass no higher than a centimetre. Chuck hadn't paid it much mind in the past; other than to remark the loud screeches of young mobians, but now, seeing the expression of excitement on his young nephew’s face, he was thankful for it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can I really go play on that, Uncle Chuck?” Sonic broke out of his momentary speechless excitement, dashing around the older hedgehog’s legs, grinning wildly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course you can,” Chuck affirmed, chuckling as his nephew almost tripped him up,“go on ahead, before I fall over. I'll catch up in a second.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the small blue blur rushed off towards the park, Chuck noticed that a few families he recognised from the village were already there, watching their own young children play. Keeping half an eye on Sonic's cobalt blue form zipping around the park and climbing frames, Chuck wandered near to the parents, pulling a book from his pocket and residing himself to a few hours out here away from his workshop. ‘Maybe this will give me time to brainstorm my next idea' the dark blue hedgehog wondered to himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now, being a hedgehog, Chuck's hearing was pretty good, though not nearly on the level of mobian foxes or bats. So when a wave of whispering sprouted up from the gathered parents upon his arrival, he noticed. After attempting to ignore them for a few seconds while reading and re-reading the same paragraph of his book, the hedgehog finally looked up to meet the gazes of the other mobians.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey, Mr...Hedgehog? It's curious seeing you here. I'm Scott.” One bold squirrel greeted him with a lop-sided smile, walking over to Chuck while the other parents and his wife hurried to find somewhere else to be. “I didn't think you had a kid?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, he's my nephew. And just call me Chuck,” Chuck clarified, glad to get a chance to quell any rumours going around, “I've adopted him for the time being, till I can find a family for him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Aren't you his family?” Scott the squirrel asked, gesturing to Sonic still trying to scramble up the climbing frame.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, but I can't possibly raise him. He needs a real family, with parents that know what they're doing.” Chuck signed, letting out some of the worries that had run grooves into his mind all month. He looked at Scott in surprise when the squirrel laughed lightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Honestly, do you think anyone with kids knows what they're doing?” The squirrel questioned rhetorically, indicating to his daughter, a small brown-furred squirrel currently chasing a rabbit kit around the park. “Me and the wife still don't know how to get that little tike to sleep through the night. I'm sure all your nephew wants right now is his uncle, you'll be fine.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chuck smiled at the squirrel’s sentiment, but dismissed the idea of keeping Sonic. Not being able to quiet your kid at night was a lot more forgivable than raising a hyperactive hoglet in a workshop full of dangerous machinery.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank-" Opening his mouth to reply, Chuck was cut off by a sudden leg tackle from Sonic, who had left the playground and was now gripping his leg like a lifeline. Momentarily stunned by the sudden impact, Chuck took a second to realise Sonic was crying. Crouching down to his nephew’s eye level, Chuck gently tried to pry the hoglet’s hands from his knee.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What's up, Sonic?” He asked, surprised to see a rather blank look on his nephew's face, the corners of his eyes shining with unshed tears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sonic just shook his head in reply, opening and closing his mouth silently, eyes darting from the floor to where Scott the squirrel was still stood. Compared to his nephew's usual rapid-fire babblings, the sudden silence was unnerving, coupled with the blank expression and tense body-language. The squirrel looked questioningly at Chuck, and upon receiving an equally baffled glance, got down on Sonic's level as well, smiling warming.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hello, your uncle was just telling me about you. Can you tell me your name?” Scott asked kindly. Sonic's only response was to freeze, clinging even tighter to Chuck's leg, looking desperately at his uncle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“His name's Maurice, but he prefers to be called Sonic.” Chuck replied for him, more focused on what was upsetting the hoglet so badly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Glancing over at the playground, Chuck noticed that the group of children that had being playing tag were now stood watching Sonic with confused expressions. Scott followed his gaze and seemed to realise this too, standing up to call his daughter over.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Daisy, come over here for a sec.” Scott then asked gently, “Do you know what might have upset Sonic?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The squirrel kit dashed to her father, glancing between him and Sonic. “We didn't mean to make him upset, but he wouldn't tell us his name!” Daisy complained, looking ashamed under the hard gaze of her father.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That doesn't mean you should make him upset,” Scott scolded, “Apologise, properly.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The squirrel kit looked reluctant, but turned to Sonic, mumbling a short, “I'm sorry,” under her breath before running off again. Sonic appeared to show no reaction to the apology, only staring hard at the ground and gripping Chuck's leg tighter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Scott signed and followed after her, leaving Sonic and Chuck alone. Feeling Sonic's death-grip relax as Scott and his daughter left, he theorized that making some distance between them and the other kids would help. Chuck gently picked up the distressed hoglet and moved a few paces from the playground, setting him down on another bench. Sonic appeared to be rapidly calming down, wiping his eyes and relaxing his tense expression.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I'm sorry, Uncle Chuck, I didn't mean to cause trouble.” Sonic stammered, avoiding Chuck's eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Relax, it's fine, you didn't mean to,” Chuck reassured him, patting him on the head in what he hoped was a comforting gesture, “just be sure to reply when other kids want to ask you questions. It's polite.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To Chuck's great dismay, tears returned to the young hedgehog’s eyes as he gasped out, “but I couldn't, Uncle Chuck! I couldn't do it!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whatever do you mean?” Chuck questioned, worried by how worked up this was making his usually confident nephew.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I couldn't get it to work right! My words...my words weren't working! I couldn't...I couldn't...” Sonic's increasing struggle to articulate his problem only served to worsen the tears, until Chuck could no longer decipher his speech.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Becoming very aware of the stares from the other parents burning into his spines, Chuck focused on getting Sonic out of their view. Wrapping his nephew in a hug, he lowered him down from the bench.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sonic, do you want to go back to the workshop? Do you know the way back?” At Sonic's two affirmative nods, Chuck continued, “Okay, head home and I'll meet you there in a bit.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Without waiting for another word, Sonic shot off out of the park and over the hill towards his workshop. Signing, Chuck began to follow at a slower pace, only to be stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder. Turning around revealed Mary the otter, the known local busy-body, glaring reproachfully at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What's wrong with your ‘kid'?” She asked nosily, indicating to where Sonic disappeared to.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don't see how that's any of your business?” Chuck shot back, too tired and stressed for a conversation with her. The rude tone had definitely been a mistake though, as her face scrunched up in outrage, glaring indignantly at the hedgehog.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It's my business because your charge upset my children!” She huffed, fur bristling. Chuck glanced behind her at the litter of otter pups still playing happily, returning a confused expression. She ignored him, continuing her rant, “Your little brat refused to speak to them! Is he sick? Is he stupid? Or has he learnt nothing but bad manners from you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chuck's hands clenched involuntary at her sharp words, fighting the monstrous urge to deck the otter in the face. As much as he wanted to respond physically, he knew violence in this situation would only give her ammunition for the future. Instead, the dark blue hedgehog clenched his teeth and forced out a reply.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you for your <em>helpful</em> input, <em>Mary</em>,” Chuck ground out between his jaw, lacing his voice with sarcasm, “I'll thank you to keep your fishy noise away from my nephew. Goodbye.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Without giving her a chance to respond, Chuck wheeled around and marched off, heading directly home to his workshop. The sounds of the other parents arguing as he left faded into silence once he crested the hill. A few more swift paces brought him home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Opening the stiff wooden door and stepping into the dusty gloom of his workshop, Chuck found his blue nephew curled up on his bed, fast asleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Guess you're fast at everything, ay.” Chuck whispered as he settled down next to the small ball of spines, drawing a quilted blanket over Sonic.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>‘I promise I'll try my best you raise you’ Chuck promised to himself, silently watching the blue hoglet sleep. Frowning, Chuck added, ‘but only until I find you a real family that can give you everything I can't.’</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Suddenly feeling just as exhausted as his nephew, Chuck lay down with a yawn, curling protectively around Sonic's sleeping form. The quiet hum of machinery in his workshop lulled him to sleep, dragging the worrying events of the day from his mind. There would be time to worry about that stuff later.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wooh, it's been awhile since I've written anything, and certainly the first time I've written for the Sonic fandom.</p>
<p>This one was just a way for me to establish a backstory (or half of one) for Sonic in these oneshots. </p>
<p>While this was partly written from personal experience of having SM, I have also tried my best to research how other people experience SM and common symptoms in young children. And yes, Chuck's response to the situation wasn't what is recommended by professionals in treating SM, I think he can be forgiven for not knowing :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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